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The Old Honda

I guess it’s more Mars/Venus actions but if I’m in my car and I think I hear a weird noise, as soon as I get home, I tell Vince . . you need to take my car to the mechanic. I think I heard something. Vince, on the other hand, tries to convince himself, and the car, that there’s nothing wrong.

The other day we were out in Vince’s car and I kept hearing a noise. I was thinking .. he has to hear this and he’s going to say something because I hate to always be the one saying . . there’s something wrong with this car. It’s 21 years old and, in my opinion, it’s one thing to be frugal but when we can afford to do better, a 21 year old car is just not what I want to be driving around. We got to the roundabout and the noise was loud. Vince said “Was that my car?” I said “It’s either your car or, the same car has been behind us all day and it’s their car!” On the way home, he didn’t hear it again so . . to Vince . . it was fixed!

This morning we left to go to town. He had to pick up an Rx at the pharmacy, I had ordered an enlarged picture of Oscar and had to pick that up at Walmart, and I wanted to go to Sam’s Club. Almost as soon as we left home, I heard the noise. Vince looked at me like “Did you hear a noise?” but he didn’t say anything. I think my eyebrows were raised and I was thinking . . if this car leaves me stranded, someone is going to be in serious trouble! We got back to the roundabout and it was when we would slow down almost to a stop that it got really loud. Vince said “We may NOT be going to Sam’s Club!” Oh, I was getting frustrated. Why are we driving a car that will not get us where we’re going and back? Why can’t we drive the Highlander? Why can’t we buy a new car??

Then he decided it had to be the air conditioner (because a 21 year old motor couldn’t be making weird noises, right?) so he turned off the a/c. Ever try riding around in the car when it feels like 100 degrees and the sun is shining full blast and the gas fumes are pouring in the open windows? I still didn’t say anything but he knew I was not happy. To Vince’s credit, we didn’t hear the noise with the a/c off.

I have begged Vince through the years . . we don’t need to have ALL our vehicles being old. When the Highlander got to be 10 years old, I asked him . . get rid of the Honda, use the Highlander for our second vehicle and buy a new vehicle. That was 5 years ago. Didn’t happen.

So, we went to Sam’s, got what we needed, drove home with the windows down. We got everything put away and Vince said “Let’s talk!” I’m thinking . . great idea! He was ready to buy a car. I wanted to say “Let’s go right now and do it” because I knew, before the day was over, he’d change his mind.

Finding a new car is next to impossible. There are just no new cars out there. We first looked online at the Subaru Forester but they’re 4 cylinder and Vince wants 6 cylinders. And, there was only one at the local dealer and it had black interior. No way — especially after today with no a/c. Then Vince decided he would get a Honda Pilot. No Pilots at the local Honda dealer; a couple in Springfield that had been used at a PGA tournament so they’re considered “used” but they’re still $55K. No. I understand cars are expensive but no . . just no . . not paying $55K for a car that isn’t even considered new.

Then Vince asked about CRVs. No new CRVs either but they do have four coming but there are “special circumstances”. (1) You have to be “local”. Joplin to Springfield . . we’re not local and (2) you have to have a “sellable” trade in. Vince said “What does that mean?” and the lady said “a trade in that’s less than 5 years old. Well . . forget that!

We called dealer after dealer – no new cars. I understand there’s a shortage but also, we don’t need a new car bad enough to have to jump through all the hoops to get one. Vince took his car to the mechanic. It’s the compressor. New one should be in Monday. I laughed and said “Does that mean you’re keeping the Honda another 15 years?” Vince said “I doubt I’ll be driving in 15 years so . . maybe!”

I think I’m just going to stay at home til . . til when? Til there are new cars on the lots and you can go in and look at two or more and decide which one you want? Til dealers aren’t asking $3,000 to $5,000 more than the MSRP? I don’t know. This new “normal” . . I don’t like it!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. You were very smart not to say anything and just let Vince decide where the noise was coming from!! You didn’t give him any ultimatums either. Hopefully, it will get fixed next week….

    • The better news is that he said “Til the Honda is fixed, I’ll just go to town by myself and take the truck.” Ahhh . . sounds like a great idea to me.

  2. The car situation is crazy. My husband works for a Lexus dealership and they made the decision to not sell cars over the MSRP. You will have repeat customers if you treat them right. There are a lot of dealers selling over sticker price.

    • I understand the sales bring in part of their income and with no cars to sell, there are no sales but I told one of the guys at a Joplin dealership – you understand we can drive a little over two hours to Tulsa and buy a car for MSRP? He said “I know”. I’m sure he isn’t the one calling the shots but you’re right . . it doesn’t build any goodwill with the customer. From the calls we made, it sounds like the only vehicles we were considering . . those dealers in Joplin are all selling over the MSRP. Lucky for us, we don’t HAVE to buy a car but it may never get better. Vince ordered the part for his and the mechanic said it should be here Monday. Vince said – even if I have to spend $500 a month on that car, it’s cheaper than paying sales tax, personal property tax on the value and full coverage plus higher insurance rates. True . . so long as it never leaves me stranded.

  3. It is strange seeing the lots empty here in town. There are lots of used cars but no new ones. I don’t understand except that people are preordering their cars now and they are trading in the older ones. Now if you want a pickup truck, that is different! There seems to be a lot of those around and I don’t know why. Not everyone in Texas needs a truck!

    • And, not everyone who NEEDS a truck will buy one! 🙂

      It does look funny seeing all the empty car lots – sad really.

  4. Back in October my car wouldn’t pass inspection and would cost more to fix than it’s worth. That’s our point where we look for another vehicle. Wanted another Honda CR-V, but only 2 in the area and both over $30,000. That’s not something we can afford. Found the local KIA dealer had ONE new vehicle, so we ended up buying it. It was our only choice that we could afford. I always end up with the old car and hubby drives the new one, so I’m driving the 2013 Honda and he’s driving the 2022 Seltos. We considered ourselves lucky to have found one, because they were saying that used cars were way overpriced at the time, too. I wonder how much longer these shortages can be blamed on the pandemic. It’s certainly not looking any better than it did a year ago….

  5. We bought a new Subaru in August of 2019 and are so happy we did. It was almost an impulse buy, I had recently retired so wasn’t driving as much but my car had a ton of miles on it. I am almost afraid to drive it in case I would be in an accident because parts are hard to get also.

    • That’s what I was telling Vince! At least with our old cars, if we had an accident, they’d be totaled and we could get a new car. With a new car, we would have to wait for parts and get it fixed.

  6. We love our Kia Soul.. Its good on gas mileage and we have had it since 2016 and all we have had done to it was oil changes. Its time for new tires but after that long? My husband drove it to and from work daily, and then on weekends whenever we would go somewhere. We have put a few long trips on it and it still runs like a charm (knock on wood) and hopefully it will keep running for a while.

  7. We purchased a new Toyota Venza hybrid in May of 2020—and it was the last new car of that model/color in the state. Then people were on waiting lists with deposits paid and the cars trickled out as those electronic components from China were delivered. My old car was “too old” to use as a trade-in so we sold it ourselves after it was garaged for over a year. By that time people were scrounging for good used cars and we got a good price. You always have good luck, so something will appear that’s “just right”! Because you’re willing and able to wait.

  8. My thoughts exactly. I think people are keeping their money tight right now and not buying anything big. That is also adding to the inflation.

    • I don’t know. Houses are selling at outrageously high prices the day they’re listed. New cars are sold as soon as the dealer announces they’re “in transit”. Expensive restaurants have long waits at peak times. It seems like people are spending on everything.

  9. Maybe it is just me and some of my friends who are being frugal right now. I do know there is a lot of greed going around.

    • I can understand being frugal – especially now. There’s always been greed and always will be – just part of life.

  10. Don’t count out the new 4 cylander. My husband wasn’t going to consider them either, but after talking to the salesman and taking a test drive, he was sold. The new technology is so much better. Our new car is as powerful or more than the old car, similar make and model. Plus it gets much better gas mileage, especially in econo mode. It also has a turbo boost for highway driving, which my husband loves. We rarely need it except when passing on hills, but he likes to play. :0) I don’t think either of us would go back to the old car.

    • Not all of them have the turbo boost. Some of the Ascents do but none of the Foresters they have coming had the turbo and I’m not sure it’s available on that vehicle. We did want to drive one but without any in stock, that’s not happening. We’ve decided not to bother with a new car. They’re too hard to find and some of the dealers have hoops you have to jump through. We’ll keep what we have for now.

  11. We have a 2017 Forester with 4 cylinders and I have been surprised at the performance. I have a 2010 RAV4 with 6 and was sure that the Forester wouldn’t do but it’s been wonderful to drive. We’ve used it on the highway and on long trips and it works well. At some point I want to replace the RAV4 and I won’t be afraid to get a 4. When I bought the RAV4 I bought it used because it had the 6 and the newer ones at the time were 4s. I think it depends on how it’s set up. How’s that for technical? lol

    • That’s plenty technical for me! 🙂

      Thanks for the info. That’s why we need to test drive one before we commit to buying it but until (assuming some day it will happen) there are cars on the lot, we can’t test drive them.

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